Bill Cager, the owner of the Mid-City body shop where authorities say the car used in the deadly crash was hidden, pleaded guilty as charged to all four counts he faced and received a 20-year suspended sentence and five years of probation.

Cager pleaded guilty to accessory to manslaughter, obstruction of justice, conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and conspiracy to commit accessory to manslaughter after the fact. He could have faced a maximum of 20 years on the accessory to manslaughter charges had he been convicted at trial.

Cager was one of six people arrested in the fatal wreck July 7, 2013, when police say a white Porshe Panamera struck and killed Thomas on the Interstate 10 high rise bridge. Thomas had been involved in a minor traffic accident and had gotten out of his car to check on the other driver.

Justin McKey, who surrendered to police the next day, told investigators that he smashed into Thomas and fled. According to witness statements, McKey was seen speeding away, leaving Thomas "bleeding and motionless" in the road.

NOPD officer Rodney ThomasFamily of Rodney Thomas

McKey, 25, and Kenneth Halley, 28, were charged with manslaughter. Police say Halley drove the car to the Best of the Best body shop in the 2600 block of Gravier Street after hitting Thomas. Cager, the shop's owner, was seen on surveillance footage wiping down the car with rags, police said. During the investigation, police said, they found hair in the windshield of the car and white rags covered in what appeared to be blood in garbage cans outside the shop.

Also charged in connection to the case are Nephateria Jones, James Ratliff and John Chambers. It was not immediately clear whether Cager will be asked to testify against his co-defendants, of which Cager is the first to plead guilty.

After accepting the plea, Criminal District Judge Karen Herman admonished Cager, warning him that his sentence would be revoked if he violated his probation.

"Take your probation very, very seriously," Herman told Cager.

Several of Thomas' family members took the stand briefly and gave heart-wrenching impact statements.

Thomas' sister, Sylvia Smith, sat weeping as she addressed Cager, telling him how the loss of her brother had devastated her family.

"It feels like part of my life is missing. Rodney was a wonderful, loving, caring brother," Smith said. "I feel a hurt every time I visit the courtroom," she said.

"Everything that I know and live for is gone," said Thomas' wife, Rosalyn Thomas, wiping away tears. "I can't think, I can't concentrate and I can no longer work," she said. "My life has been shattered like the car that you wiped down. Your actions have taken my provider, my love, my best friend.

"I hope that you can be a better person and a better father to your family," Thomas' wife said before getting off the stand. "I will never have that again."